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Eagles fly past Crater, again Photo by Andrew Mariman / Mail Tribune Eagle Point's Christian Mannenbach, left, and Crater's Rudy Ramirez tangle in the 160-pound match in Wednesday's dual meet. Mannenbach won the match 6-4 to give the Eagles their first lead of the night. For the third straight season, Eagle Point overtakes the Comets in a battle of SOC titans By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT - Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it. That saying has little room in Christian Mannenbach's life these days. The Eagle Point junior is more interested in rewriting history than reliving it. Mannenbach struggled to find his form last week as his teammates were busy winning the Newberg Tournament. He won only one of three matches at Newberg, and resolved to not let his teammates down again. Given the chance Wednesday night against a personal nemesis, Mannenbach answered the challenge and, in turn, helped Eagle Point turn back Crater, 32-23, for the third straight year in a dual meet. "We wrestled a lot of good teams last week, but this is a rivalry match and that brings it to a whole new level," Mannenbach said in summing up the Southern Oregon Conference-opener for both teams. The 160-pounder took his wrestling to a new level Wednesday night when Crater's Rudy Ramirez was announced as his counterpart. Ramirez, who entered the dual 2-0 against Mannenbach, had been penciled in for possible duty at 152 but was held back as the Comets played the odds. That move backfired as Mannenbach shrugged off a 2-0 deficit with an escape and a two-point takedown to give him a confidence-building 3-2 lead after one period. "Once I got that takedown I knew I was in the match," said Mannenbach. Ramirez answered with an escape to tie it at 3-3, but Mannenbach smoothly pulled off another takedown and then fended off Ramirez to garner a long-awaited 6-4 victory and Eagle Point's first lead of the night at 23-21. "I was so happy to finally get to wrestle him again because I'd lost to him twice, and I finally was able to come out and get a win out of it," said Mannenbach, who was bumped from advancing to state by Ramirez last season. "I knew there were points on the line, and it was a close dual. I was just glad I could help the team out like that." Crater answered that setback with one of its own at 171 as freshman Ron Lee earned a 4-2 overtime decision over senior Victor Shelton. But the final two weights of the night favored Eagle Point, and the Eagles didn't disappoint as Randy Stepp won at 189 and Jake Phillips capped the night in fitting fashion with a match-ending pin at 215. "When it comes right down to it, if a match has to be on the line you want your senior returning state place-winner out there," said Eagle Point coach Brad McBee, who had his choice of Stepp, Phillips and Juan Knapp to dictate the final two weights. Phillips' win was especially impressive considering he had only been active in the wrestling room for a week after recuperating from a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. In his first match back, he pounced on the opportunity supplied by Crater's Cody Engbrecht on a shot-attempt that went awry. "I should have beaten him a lot better, but I was just out of gas," Phillips said of his second-period pin. "I couldn't do much, and it was just a desperate move." Crater put the Eagles in desperation mode early in the match as heavyweight Chris Dearmon, 103-pounder Bryson Gutches and 125-pounder Kyle Marci each earned pins to give the Comets an 18-9 lead even though each team had three wins. Undaunted, Andrew Larsen started a surge for Eagle Point with a 2-0 win over Nate Gipson at 130. Wins from Stephen Price (135), Morgan Edenstrom (145) and Jason Adams (152) followed to set up the late heroics by Mannenbach and crew. "A couple pins killed us early, but we fought back and toughed it out," said Phillips. On the flip side, Crater coach Greg Haga's troops missed their opportunities. "We had close matches that we could have won and didn't pull it out," said Haga. "We have seniors out on the mat who aren't getting wins for us, and we're getting pinned at the end. And if you can't count on your seniors, you can't expect a bunch of freshmen to always come through for you. "Now we'll have to go see what kind of guts they have and what kind of heart they have." Crater and Eagle Point were each deducted a team point, with McBee cited for unsportsmanlike conduct and Engbrecht tabbed for not having his shoelaces secured prior to his match. TEAM SCORE - Eagle Point 32, Crater 23. 103 - Bryson Gutches, C, pinned Nick Alexander, 4:39; 112 - J.P. Sheile, EP, dec. Cody Ponder, 8-5; 119 - Joe Lewis, EP, pinned Clancy Finchum, 5:22; 125 - Kyle Marci, C, pinned Steve Hammond, 1:38; 130 - Andrew Larsen, EP, dec. Nate Gipson, 2-0. 135 - Stephen Price, EP, dec. Chase Maloney, 16-10; 140 - Jeremy McLaughlin, C, dec. Mike Castro, 11-6; 145 - Morgan Edenstrom, EP, dec. Josh Wilder, 6-4; 152 - Jason Adams, EP, dec. Josh King, 8-6. 160 - Christian Mannenbach, EP, dec. Rudy Ramirez, 6-4; 171 - Ron Lee, C, dec. Victor Shelton, 4-2 OT; 189 - Randy Stepp, EP, dec. Zane Yarnell, 16-11; 215 - Jake Phillips, EP, pinned Cody Engbrecht, 3:50; *275 - Chris Dearmon, C, pinned Nick Smith, 3:01. JV score - Eagle Point 40, Crater 33 * starting weight Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.